Robin Rotman, assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources (SNR), received the 2021 Outstanding Early Career Teaching Award at CAFNR’s 2022 Celebration of Excellence awards ceremony, held Tuesday, April 19.

Rotman earned her bachelor’s degree in geology from Sewanee: The University of the South, in Tennessee; her master’s in water science, policy and management from The University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor (JD) from Yale Law School.

Rotman joined SNR in 2018 after 10 years of practicing law. Her teaching philosophy is focused on knowledge transfer, skills development, professional preparation and personal growth. She serves on the Campus Writing Board, the Honors College Council and as a faculty advisor to the MU Fellowships Office. Rotman gives frequent guest lectures and presentations to student groups, and is a faculty mentor to the MU Chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (“MANRRS”), and to the MU Chapter of the Missouri Collegiate Conservation Alliance.

In addition to teaching, Rotman also advises multiple undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral research students.

“Professor Rotman has changed the trajectory of my academic and professional career by making success accessible for me, a student who grew up in rural Missouri external to the world of academia,” said Claire Shipp, a graduate student in agricultural and applied economics. “I am confident that she will continue to do the same for each student she encounters because her excellence is rooted in a genuine passion for education, mentorship and student success.”